Office Warehouse

Understanding the biggest financial and environmental impacts associated with carbon emissions was the first goal of this office warehouse development in Malaga, Perth. Being both an office and warehouse, the total emissions were dominated by the office operations including lighting, HVAC and work stations. Operational carbon emissions represented 82% of base design total emissions and the remaining 18% were a combination of materials, assembly, transportation and recurring impacts.

Michael Spartalis, Architect and Director of ee’kos Architecture & Urban Places works with a team of collaborative designers who strive to create beautiful buildings inline with their environmental and social ethos. Working as an architect for over 10 years, Michael has seen his fair share of poorly designed, inflexible and inefficient buildings that often only make it to the 20 years out of their 75 year design life. But through ee’kos, Michael aims to make design decisions that reduce the economic and environmental footprint of their projects, contribute to the community and can be adapted to suit new ways of living and working.

Results Summary

Impact Area

Total CO2e / Year / occupant (kg CO2e)

% Saved Against Benchmark

eTool Medal

Embodied Carbon

10

-15 %

Operational Carbon

12

73 %

Total Carbon

23

58 %

Project features

Design life

We assigned 65 years for the design life of the warehouse which is pretty conservative. The likelihood of redevelopment is low considering it is an industrial area full of warehouses and small factories, however there may be requirements for a larger warehouse at some point in the future.

Operational Energy

Lighting

Designed to benefit from natural lighting the design includes large windows in the office space with high spec glazing and roof lights in the warehouse ceiling. To improve the lighting energy requirements even further, a 3 step ambient light sensor will be used to adjust light levels according to external daylight, and a motion sensor will be positioned outdoors and in the stairwell area.

Energy Monitoring

Energy monitoring will allow occupants to understand which devices are demanding the most energy (electricity) and adjust behaviour accordingly. Areas of possible improvement include the HVAC system, workstations and miscellaneous energy use. For more details about Energy Monitoring, click here to watch Rich’s presentation on different solutions and industry trends.

Renewable Energy

A 7kW solar PV system will be installed to offset all emissions (embodied carbon) associated with the building construction materials, assembly and maintenance. The estimated payback period is less than 6 years, taking into consideration actual energy tariffs. It is very likely that energy costs will continue to rise, further increasing the benefits of the building generating its own electricity.